The present invention relates generally to a pressurized process chambers for performing various industrial processes, and more specifically, to a process chamber having an integral turbine and pump therein.
Various industrial processes require the use of high pressures for the fluids used in the processes. The liquids may include gasses used for chemical reactions such as natural gas purification or liquids such as those used in various chemical processes. These processes may also include reverse osmosis desalinization of ocean water to produce drinking water, wet oxidation, centrifugal separation and catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons.
As the cost of energy continues to rise, engineers increasingly search for ways in which to reduce the overall power consumption in industrial processes. Oftentimes, the industrial processes that employ high pressure fluid require that the output of the process eventually returns to ambient pressure. To reduce the pressure of the output fluid, typically a multitude of piping and valves are employed. The piping and valves increase the cost of the overall process and increase the maintenance costs of such a system.
Various means have been employed to recover energy from the discharge of such processes. Examples of known energy recovery devices include turbines and positive displacement pumps. Oftentimes, these energy recovery devices are expensive to manufacture and maintain, have high installation costs, and are not very reliable. Further, such systems are not capable of regulating the pressure and flow rates of the fluid streams. For various processes, regulation of the flow rates and pressures is important.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a process chamber capable of reducing the overall energy consumption of a known processes as well as reducing the drawbacks of the prior art outlined above.
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide process chamber that may be integrated easily into standard processes to reduce the overall energy consumption of the processes. Consequently, certain equipment cost savings due to a reduction in pump sizes may also be achieved.
In one aspect of the invention, a rotating process chamber assembly comprises a substantially cylindrical process chamber has an outer wall extending between two end walls and a substantially cylindrical inner wall spaced radially inward from the outer wall in an axial direction. The outer wall and the inner wall define an annular reaction space therebetween. The housing has a central axis. The process chamber has an inlet located substantially coaxial with the central axial. The process chamber has an outlet located substantially axial with the central axis. A drive is coupled to the process chamber to rotate the housing about the central axis. A plurality of feed channels fluidically couples the inlet and the annular reaction space. A first plurality of product channels fluidically couples the annular reaction space to the outlet.
In a further aspect of the invention, a reverse osmosis system comprises a stationary housing and a substantially cylindrical process chamber coupled within the stationary housing. The process chamber has an outer wall extending between two end walls and a substantially cylindrical inner wall spaced radially inward from the outer wall in an axial direction. The outer wall and the inner wall define an annular reaction space therebetween. The housing has a central axis. The process chamber has an inlet located substantially coaxial with the central axial for introducing feed fluid into the process chamber. A membrane is disposed within the process chamber for separating the feed fluid into permeate and concentrate. The process chamber has an outlet located substantially coaxially with the central axis. A drive is coupled to the process chamber and rotates the housing about the axis. A plurality of feed channels fluidically couples the inlet and the annular reaction space. A first plurality of product channels fluidically couples the annular reaction space to the outlet.
One advantage of the invention is that because the pressure of the system can be adjusted by the rotation a high range of pressures are available using a relatively small amount of energy.
Another advantage of the system is that the pressurization and depressurization are nearly 100 percent efficient even at low flow rates. This in contrast to known processes employing pumps that are inefficient at low flows.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent when viewed in light of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings and appended claims.